“Then what’s the point in us taking back Merida Island?” Mao asked. “Look, Tessa, I’m not criticizing you... If you really think it’s necessary, I’ll die to get it done. But we also need to convince the rest of the crew and my subordinates.”
“Of course, you’re right,” Tessa agreed. She’d known that Mao would say these things and that the others probably felt the same way. Everyone except for Sousuke...
Tessa cleared her throat lightly and went on to explain things carefully. “I suspect Leonard’s people know about this issue,” she said. “Which is why they took the missile base. They’re making us choose between the taking of Merida Island—which most of you won’t care about—and the clear and present danger at the nuclear site. Speaking as soldiers, which would you prioritize?”
“It’s obvious,” Clouseau said first.
“Doesn’t need to be stated,” Mardukas agreed.
“The missile base, right? Not really a contest,” Mao shrugged.
Sachs, the few other SRT members in attendance, and the heads of various departments seemed to be in agreement.
Tessa remained silent and glanced at Sousuke. “And you, Sagara-san?”
“I...” He felt a brief struggle. He wanted to fly right to Merida Island where Chidori Kaname was. Even if his logical mind agreed with those around him, his heart found it more difficult. “I think... I’d give priority to Afghanistan.”
“Good.” Tessa got out of her seat, folded her arms and looked over the group. “Perhaps it is just a diversion, but we still have to take back that nuclear base. They’re going to be willing to fire those missiles, just to motivate us. And as long as they can activate the TAROS on Merida Island, it won’t matter to them whether the rest of the world survives or not.”
In fact, Tessa thought that reducing the population of this world might actually be to their benefit... But she wasn’t certain, and therefore decided not to share this with the others.
“That’s madness,” Mao said.
“Even so, Leonard is quite charismatic,” Tessa pointed out. “If he’s convinced the non-Whispered working for him that he’s changing the world, they’ll go along with anything he asks for, no matter how destructive.”
It was all too big and too complicated. What to prioritize, how best to get the drop on the enemy... none of them had an answer to these questions, and the air in the room grew heavier.
“Regardless, Captain. What do you intend to do?” Mardukas asked, finally getting to the heart of the matter.
Tessa looked out at the faces of her comrades. “We’ll divide our forces,” she decided.
“Divide...?”
“I’ll deploy the helicopters,” she clarified. “The rest of you will fly to Afghanistan and take back the missile base. Whether or not the parallel world exists, this is still your reality—Please protect it.”
“But what about you?” Mao asked.
“I will take this vessel to Merida Island,” said Tessa. “Thankfully, the de Danaan has a TAROS of its own. It’s a smaller, older model, but it will enable me to control it all by myself,” she said quietly.
Mao and the others stared in stunned disbelief. “B-But... this submarine can’t take the island by itself, right?” asked Mao. “You’ll need ground forces.”
“Yes. He will be the landing team,” Tessa said, looking over at Sousuke. He’d probably expected this announcement, because he didn’t look at all surprised and met everyone’s gazes evenly.
“Sagara-san and I,” Tessa mused. “When you come down to it, we’re the only two who have any business on Merida Island.. So, we’re going to go ourselves. We’ll be taking the Tuatha de Danaan and the Laevatein, though. Is that all right, Sagara-san?”
Sousuke nodded silently. But it was a nod of resignation, as if to grudgingly admit that this course of action was their only choice.
“It’s suicide,” Mao said, her voice trembling with anger. “We’ve come this far—fought every moment together—and now you’re saying ‘go on and handle this without us’? Do you realize what it is you’re saying?”
“Yes,” he told her simply. “But you said it yourself... You wanted a reason to take back Merida Island that your subordinates could accept.”
“And what is it?” Mao demanded to know.
“There is none,” said Tessa, answering for him with a lonely smile. “There’s absolutely no reason for the rest of you to come along. I’m a Whispered, so I have a reason to want to stop Leonard’s plan. Sagara-san is an ordinary person like the rest of you, but he’s only with us in the hopes of bringing Kaname-san back to Japan. The rest of you have no reason that even comes close to matching ours.”
Mao was silent.
“We’ll be reaching our final resupply point in five hours,” Tessa continued. “The rest of you will disembark there and head for Afghanistan. If you manage to take back the missile base, you can go your separate ways after that and live your lives however you wish.”
“Tessa!”
Tessa knew exactly what Mao wanted to say, but there was no other answer for her to give. “I’m sorry,” she said gently, “but this is goodbye.”
The Soviet forces sent to take back the base arrived a bit later than Sabina had expected. It was winter in the northeastern region of Afghanistan (the region of Badafshan, to be specific) and smack in the middle of a mountain range with an altitude of four thousand meters. The terrain was dangerous, the ground was white as far as the eye could see, and the roads that wound through the mountains were covered in deep snow. Bitter cold and snow... It was impossible for normal squadrons to move in this season.
The AS that Sabina was operating, the Eligore, was currently crouching on a ridge, concealed via ECS as she evaluated the power of the enemy squadrons. Standard armored vehicles couldn’t traverse this terrain, so naturally, the main force was composed of ASes.
The enemy force consisted of ten of the latest model of the second-generation Savage—the Rk-96—along with six new ASes bringing up the back line. These were more slender than the Savages, with their egg-like torsos; the third generation of the Soviet model, the Zy-98, codenamed ‘Shadow’ by the Western powers. Their stats massively outstripped those of the Savages, putting them more on par with the M9 Gernsbacks used by both the USA and Mithril. They were the model on which Sabina’s Eligore was based, as well.
A sixteen-machine AS squadron, new and old together. Common sense would suggest that it was more than enough to retake a missile base from occupying terrorists—but there was nothing common about this situation.
“Fowler here: sixteen ASes approaching from the north. How are things on your end?” came a voice over the radio. It was from Lee Fowler, who was watching the expected north side entry route. He and Sabina were using a totally encrypted channel, so they weren’t bothering with call signs.
“I’ve just sent you the data,” she told him.
“Hmm... The same, eh? Thirty-two ASes in total. They’ve really turned out,” Fowler observed.
“There’s likely a transport helicopter squadron waiting behind them, too.”
“Most likely. They’ll want to use the ASes to scatter us and then send infantry to storm the base,” Fowler predicted. “Too bad they don’t stand a chance.”
Their own forces were made up of Sabina and Fowler’s Eligores, four Shadows standing watch over the base, and a single platoon of infantry. But the lambda driver-mounted Eligores were invincible next to normal ASes; there was nothing to worry about.
“Even so, we’re about to be busy for a while,” Fowler continued in a grumble. “It would be easier with a few Codarls on our side.”